Zhao Dengyu or Chao Teng-yu (1898-1937) was a Chinese general, distinguished for his service at the beginning of the
Second Sino-Japanese War

Second Sino-Japanese War

The Second Sino-Japanese War was a military conflict fought primarily between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan. From 1937 to 1941, China fought Japan with some economic help from Germany , the Soviet Union and the United States...

.
He was born in a peasant family in Heze

Heze

Heze is a prefecture-level city in southwestern Shandong province, People's Republic of China. The westernmost prefecture-level city in Shandong, it borders Jining to the east and the provinces of Henan and Anhui to the west and south respectively. The old name of Heze was Caozhou and now a part...

, Shandong

Shandong

' is a Province located on the eastern coast of the People's Republic of China. Shandong has played a major role in Chinese history from the beginning of Chinese civilization along the lower reaches of the Yellow River and served as a pivotal cultural and religious site for Taoism, Chinese...

 Province in 1898. He first served as a soldier in the troops commanded by Feng Yuxiang

Feng Yuxiang

Feng Yuxiang was a warlord and leader in Republican China. He was also known as the Christian General for his zeal to convert his troops and the Betrayal General for his penchant to break with the establishment. In 1911, he was an officer in the ranks of Yuan Shikai's Beiyang Army but joined...

 in 1914. After 1922, he distinguished himself on the battlefield and rose through ranks and became successively platoon leader, company commander, battalion commander, regiment commander, brigade commander and division commander. In 1930, he was transferred to be the commander of the 109th Brigade, 37th Division, 29th Army.

On March 8, 1933 during the Defense of the Great Wall

Defense of the Great Wall

The Defense of the Great Wall was a campaign between the armies of Republic of China and Empire of Japan, which took place before the Second Sino-Japanese War officially commenced in 1937...

, he was ordered to relieve the troops stationed at the Xifengkou Pass on the Great Wall. On the 10th, he led his troops to launch a night surprise attack on the bivouac of the Japanese troops, in which his troops annihilated hundreds of the Japanese troops, captured over 10 machineguns and burned over 10 Japanese supply-carrying vehicles. On the 11th, the 109th Brigade was ordered to take a devious route to attack the rear area of the Japanese troops. In this battle, the Chinese soldiers killed over 100 enemy troops and destroyed 18 enemy artillery pieces. After the battles at the Great Wall, he was promoted to be commander of the 132nd Division, the 29th Army and led his troops to garrison Chahar.

On July 27, 1937, during the Battle of Beiping-Tianjin

Battle of Beiping-Tianjin

The Battle of Beiping-Tianjin , also known as the “Peiking-Tientsin Operation” or by the Japanese as the was a series of battles of the Second Sino-Japanese War fought in the proximity of Beiping and Tianjin...

, Zhao led an advance regiment to arrive at the headquarters of the 29th Army in Nanyuan, Beijing

Beijing

Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...

. On the morning of the 28th, the main force of the Japanese troops launched a fierce attack against Nanyuan under the fire support of dozens of its fighter planes. Together with Tong Linge

Tong Linge

Tong Linge or Tung Ling-ko , was the Manchu ethnicity Chinese Deputy Commander of 29th Corps or 29th Route Army in 1937 during the Marco Polo Bridge Incident and Battle of Beiping-Tianjin....

, deputy commander of the 29th Army, Zhao directed the troops stationed in Nanyuan to resist the Japanese troops. In this battle his right arm and leg were wounded, yet he still remained at the frontline to command his troops in fight. Later, he was ordered to lead his troops to assemble at Dahongmen, making preparations for counterattack. Unfortunately, on the way to Dahongmen to the south of the city, he was shot in the chest by Japanese ambush troops and died in action. On July 31, 1937, the Kuomintang

Kuomintang

The Kuomintang of China , sometimes romanized as Guomindang via the Pinyin transcription system or GMD for short, and translated as the Chinese Nationalist Party is a founding and ruling political party of the Republic of China . Its guiding ideology is the Three Principles of the People, espoused...

government conferred posthumously the rank of army general to him.

Source

• PLA Daily, Zhao Dengyu